EAST SYRACUSE — Not bad, for openers.
The Cortland High girls’ basketball team broke open a close game with a 16-6 fourth-quarter scoring advantage Monday night en route to a 54-36 OHSL Freedom Division win over host East Syracuse-Minoa in the first game of the season for both teams.
“Like us, ES-M is a senior-laden team,” Purple Tigers coach Dick Penoyer said. “It was a tough game. They’re a good team and will be around at the end of the season. This was a very good way to start things.”
Senior forward Courtney Tennant had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead the winners, while sophomore guard Maggie Brown had 10 points and collected 10 boards. In all, CHS had 40 rebounds in the game.
“Courtney did a nice job inside,” Penoyer said. “She and Maggie Brown did most of the scoring, but those two plus Christine Gutchess and Maggie Reagan (both senior forwards) did a great job of rebounding and playing defense. ES-M went man-to-man defensively in the first half and zone, for some reason, in the second. In the fourth quarter they went man-to-man full-court to try to put a little pressure on us, and we were able to convert on transition with some fast breaks. The kids also did a good on on free throws, hitting 23-of-31.”
That free throw accuracy featured Tennant going 11-for-12.
Cortland had 25 turnovers in the game, and Penoyer noted that “The one negative was that we had a lot of turnovers. A lot of them were unforced as the girls tried to make plays; those things will come around as the season goes on.”
Becky Teschler scored 12 points to lead the Spartans.
CORTLAND JVs lost to ES-M 37-19, as Ashley Behrenfeld and Kayla McUmber scored six points each (McUmber all from the free throw line) to pace the Purple Tigers. Cortland went 10-for-27 on its free throws. Coach Jamie Brown noted Taylor Tabel and Paige Rogers were the defensive standouts.
Both Cortland teams host Fulton Friday, the JVs getting things started at 5:30 p.m.